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The stereophonic zoom By Michael Williams

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Chuck:
http://www.rycote.com/images/uploads/The_Stereophonic_Zoom.pdf

A variable dual microphone
system for stereophonic
sound recording

Link to the topic README1st! Mic configs for dummies & LD mics, clamps + more, Stereophonic Zoom started in the Microphones & Setup section:
http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=119057.0

Link to Michael Williams web site:
http://www.mmad.info/SOS_MMAD.htm


...this is obviously not my content. It's just link(s) to the paper that explains SRA in depth.

ScoobieKW:
Isn't Stereo Zoom a sticky by now? If not, it should be. This is essential stuff, especially when you are taping in a new venue.

Anyway, obligatory software tool links using the Stereo Zoom theory. The Sengpiel Audio app really helped me understand the relationship between time arrival and level difference in stereo imaging.

http://www.sengpielaudio.com/Visualization-ORTF-E.htm

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=air.com.neumann.recordingtools

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/recording-tools/id576702914?mt=8

Chuck:
I didn't see it in here. So, I started the topic. I believe it's essential info for any recordist. If it's duplicated somewhere else let me know.

audBall:
It's surely been discussed, but I don't think it was ever a sticky.

Is Fig 3 (cardioid) representative of all cards across the board? Fig's 4 and 5 (hypos and hypers) note "back attenuation of 10db", but Fig 3 does not. I'm assuming that means response at 180° versus 0° on-axis? If that's the case, my capsules are -20db and -23db at 180°. Is there a way to recreate these graphs according to our specific mics? I'd really only be concerned with SRAs of +/- 40-50°.

edit- correction

Gutbucket:
It's already stickied at the top of the active Microphones & Setup section- http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=119057.0 (this thread is in the knowledge base / archive sub-section)

There have been numberous discussions of it here at TS over the years.  A search will probably find a number of them, although some are burried in threads that do not have Stereo Zoom in the title I'm sure.

Michael William's website should be linked- [Edit 2024- new URL https://www.williamsmmad.com/ ]
The old URL was http://www.mmad.info/SOS_MMAD.htm
The link there to microphone array design leads to a hyperlink-based interactive selector for choosing Stereo Zoom based configurations.  Run through it and download or print a PDF showing angles and spacing for your choice of mic pattern and SRA.  He has extended the Stereo Zoom to include not only two channel but up to seven channel microphone arrays.   Just pick how many microphone channels you want and follow the links.  Most here will simply use the 2-channel arrays, but the three (and four) channel arrays should be useful as well.  The straight three channel pages are not active, but you can determine three channel configs by running through the 5 channel links and simply ignoring the 2 surround channels.  Although designed for playback with the same number of speakers as mic channels, I've found that these mix down very well to stereo without problems, so they are good safe choices for 3 & 4 mic setups from one location with the intent of mixing to 2 channel, rather than just combining two seperate stereo pairs or guessing on an appropriate 3-mic setup.

I've personally found the site very useful for choosing between various appropriate 5 channel surround recording configurations, where the extention of the Stereo Zoom beyond just two mics gets complex.  I'll print several candidate configs out and choose between them.

All his papers may be downloaded from there at no charge (and are excellent reads I recommend for those interested)

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